Is giving the finger to a fellow member of Parliament or calling him an
idiot acceptable? It is in the Czech Republic, at least according to MPs
themselves. The mandate and immunity committee of the lower house this week
dismissed two such cases, saying they would only resort to punishment if
the situation worsened. Radio Prague spoke to political analyst Karel
Müller from Prague’s University of Economics, and asked him whether we
should we come to accept such coarse behaviour.

“I think there is no reason to think that the political culture of the
elites should be somehow different from that of the public. We can see this
kind of behaviour and social patterns in the society as well, and I would
not say this is something specific of political culture.

“Naturally, political elites are there to resolve problems and disputes
and they are more influential as well as more visible when they engage in
such behaviour.”

Do you think that’s the reason why such theatrics are considered
acceptable in the Czech Republic precisely because they are common in
public life?

“The question is what “acceptable” means. I just looked at some
polls and over 80 percent of people condemn such behaviour so I think the
public does not react to it very positively. I don’t think it’s
acceptable from a normative point of view; it seems to be fairly common but
people don’t seem to sign up for it.”

Is this something unique for the post-communist world, do you think? Some
commentators have noted that Czech politicians consider politics a struggle
between good and evil which in their eyes justifies whatever means are
necessary…

Karel Müller
“That’s a good point. I think that the notion of politics as a
struggle between good and evil can be found in some more established
liberal democracies as well but I do think there is some post-communist
aspect to it.

“Political conflicts were during communism seen as dangerous and
threatening, often with bad consequences for their actors, and I think this
has survived to a certain extent.

Also, political power is being abused more in post-communist countries
than in established Western democracies. When we see the struggle between
liberal culture and clientelist culture, this somewhat resembles the
conflict of good and evil. But I think the problem is that there is not
enough space for real politics and reasonable and rational politics.
Sometimes in the Czech Republic and other post-communist countries there is
indeed very little space for problem-based politics.”

You follow British politics which is the cradle of parliamentarism. How
has Czech political culture changed over the last 20 years? Have we come
closer to the UK in this respect?

“I think the situation has changed a little. Political culture is often
parallel to political developments; in the 1990s, for example, the Czech
public had certain expectations that were later failed, and I think the
major difference is still what I would call the ritualization of political
conflicts.

Czech Parliament, photo: archive of the Czech Government
“British politics is sometimes seen as very hostile and even vicious but
there is always some basic loyalty to the system and values of liberal
democracy. I remember I was once struck when I heard a British MP reacting
to a speech by his opponent; he said, ‘it was a very good speech except
there were some ideas I don’t agree with’. So I think it’s crucial to
follow and develop these elementary loyalties towards the political
system.”